A contract penned on a sheet of magical vellum in Farglen's precise, gear-tooth script. The text gleams in gold filigree — every letter, every flourish laid down by a pencil of Farglen's own design, its tip leaving luminous trails wherever it passes over the skin. The golden lines catch light that isn't there, shifting faintly as though the ink remembers the hand that wrote it.
Being a Binding Agreement of Service Between Parties, Witnessed by the Turning of Gears and the Counting of Hours
Entered into on this day, at the grounds of the Witchmarket, in the shifting lands of the First World, between the following parties:
The Caller: Farglen Cogwhisper, Artificer, Proprietor of Farglen's Perfect Machines, hereafter referred to as "the Caller"
The Called: Cawthorn, called the Crow Inventor, Alchemist and Mechanist of the Verduran Forest, hereafter referred to as "the Called"
The Called does hereby agree to answer no more than thirteen (13) summonings issued at the discretion of the Caller. Each summoning shall transport the Called from his present location to such place in the First World as the Caller designates. The method and mechanism of said transportation shall be the Caller's responsibility and cost; failure of a summoning to reach the Called through no fault of his own shall not count against the total of thirteen.
Each summoning shall correspond to one (1) task, and one task only, as defined by the Caller at the time of the Called's arrival. The Caller may not append, amend, subdivide, or otherwise expand the scope of a task once stated. Should the Caller wish additional work performed, he must expend a separate summoning. A task is considered stated when the Caller has described it in plain language to the Called's satisfaction, and the Called has acknowledged understanding thereof.
No task set before the Called shall be impossible — that is to say, no task shall require of the Called any capability, power, knowledge, or resource that does not exist, has never existed, or cannot be reasonably obtained within the duration allotted. A task may be difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant, but it must not be a thing that cannot be done by any means available to a mortal of the Called's skill and station. Should a dispute arise as to the possibility of a task, the Called may refuse it without penalty, and the summoning shall not count against the total of thirteen — provided the Called can demonstrate the impossibility to the satisfaction of a neutral third party agreed upon by both signatories.
The Called's obligation per summoning shall not exceed the lesser of the following:
- One (1) day as measured in the First World, from the moment of the Called's arrival to the expiration of that same day by local reckoning; or
- One (1) week as measured on the Material Plane, from the moment of the Called's departure therefrom to the passage of seven full days in that realm;
— whichever limit is reached first. Upon the expiration of either limit, the Called's obligation for that summoning is concluded, whether the task be finished or no. The Caller shall then return the Called to the Material Plane at or near the point of his departure, at the Caller's expense, within a reasonable interval not to exceed one hour of First World time.
The Caller shall not summon the Called into immediate mortal peril without prior warning. Each summoning shall transport not only the Called but also his construct companion, Hairspring, who shall be considered an inseparable extension of the Called for all purposes under this Compact. Any summoning that fails to include Hairspring is no summoning at all, and the Called is under no obligation to perform.
Should the Called or Hairspring be injured, damaged, poisoned, cursed, or otherwise harmed in the execution of a task, the Caller shall bear reasonable responsibility for restoration, repair, mending, or compensation commensurate with the harm suffered — such compensation to be negotiated in good faith between the parties.
Both the Called and Hairspring shall be returned to the Material Plane at the conclusion of each summoning in no worse condition than they arrived, excepting the natural wear of honest labor. Should the Caller fail to return both the Called and Hairspring within the interval specified in Article the Fourth, each additional day of delay shall count as one (1) summoning against the total of thirteen.
The Caller shall not issue more than one (1) summoning in any span of seven Material Plane days, except by the Called's explicit consent. The Called may defer a summoning for up to three (3) Material Plane days if he is engaged in work or circumstance that cannot be safely abandoned — such deferral not to count against the total of thirteen.
This Compact shall be considered fulfilled and void upon the occurrence of any of the following:
- The thirteenth summoning is completed;
- Both parties agree in writing to dissolve the Compact;
- The death of either party (though the gears of the First World turn strangely on such matters, and both parties acknowledge the peculiarities of mortality in these lands);
- A period of one year and one day of Material Plane time elapses from the date of signing without a single summoning having been issued.
Any summonings unused at the time of expiration are forfeit and may not be claimed, transferred, or inherited.
Neither the right to summon nor the obligation to answer may be sold, traded, gifted, wagered, or otherwise transferred to any third party, whether by the Caller or the Called. This Compact binds the signatories alone.
Signed in the presence of ticking brass and turning crystal, each party taking up the Caller's gilded pencil in turn:
Farglen Cogwhisper — his name rendered in flowing gold filigree, the letters tight and ornamental, each one a tiny feat of draughtsmanship
Cawthorn — a careful, claw-gripped signature beside a small stamped gear, the golden lines thicker and more deliberate than Farglen's, glowing no less brightly for it
Notarized by Veska, the Asking Dark, Witness and Officiant of the Unlit, the Witchmarket
I attest that both parties entered into this Compact of their own volition, with full understanding of its terms, and that neither was coerced, beguiled, charmed, or otherwise compelled. I have read each article aloud in the presence of both signatories and confirmed their consent, clause by clause, as is proper. The language is precise. The obligations are mutual. There is nothing hidden in what is written here.
Should either party violate the terms set forth above, I will know — and I will remember.
Veska — her name inscribed in the same golden filigree, though where the pencil touched the vellum at her hand the gold darkens at its edges to a bruise-deep violet, as shadow-ink bleeding up through the gilt
Where the three signatures sit, the golden filigree pulses gently — not quite light, not quite warmth, but something in between. The vellum feels heavier than it should, as though the words written upon it have weight of their own.
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